News Center- Human Rights Watch (HRW) has published a new report on the civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan.

“Sudan’s warring parties, particularly the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), have committed widespread acts of rape, including gang rape, and forced women and girls into marriages in Khartoum, the country’s capital, since the current conflict’s onset,” Human Rights Watch said in the report released on Monday.

The 89-page report, ““Khartoum is Not Safe for Women”: Sexual Violence against Women and Girls in Sudan’s Capital,” documents widespread sexual violence, as well as forced and child marriage during the conflict, in Khartoum and its sister cities.

“Service providers treating and supporting victims also heard reports from women and girls of being held by the RSF in conditions that could amount to sexual slavery.”

Eighteen of the healthcare providers told HRW that they had cared for “a total of 262 survivors of sexual violence from ages nine through 60 between the conflict’s onset in April 2023 and February 2024.”

‘At least four of the women died’

The physical, emotional, social, and psychological scars left on the survivors are immense, Human Rights Watch said in the report. “Healthcare workers encountered survivors seeking assistance for debilitating physical injuries they experienced during rapes and gang rapes. At least four of the women died as a result.

“Many survivors who sought to terminate pregnancies resulting from rape faced significant barriers to abortion care. Survivors described or showed symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress and depression, including suicidal thoughts, anxiety, fear, and sleeplessness.”

Women and girls forced into marriage

“The Rapid Support Forces have raped, gang raped, and forced into marriage countless women and girls in residential areas in Sudan’s capital,” said Laetitia Bader, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The armed group has terrorized women and girls and both warring parties have blocked them from getting aid and support services, compounding the harm they face and leaving them to feel that nowhere is safe.”